USAID and Partners Announce Innovators for LAUNCH: Health Forum

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

USAID Press Office

202-712-4320

WASHINGTON D.C. – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, NIKE, Inc. and the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce those selected to participate in the LAUNCH: Health Forum. The innovators selected will participate in an event at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida October 30-31, followed immediately by the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on November 1.

The idea behind LAUNCH is to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to solving humanity’s sustainability challenges through a series of forums. The second event in this LAUNCH series, LAUNCH: Health, focuses specifically on health issues related to the first 20 years of life.

“USAID is very excited about this group of LAUNCH: Health innovators. These entrepreneurs are on the front lines of applying science and technology solutions to critical challenges in global health,” said Alex Dehgan, Director of USAID’s Office of Science and Technology. “USAID and our LAUNCH partners are committed to assisting them in improving and scaling their innovations.”

The Chlorine Bank: Community based grocery stores for delivering water purification products and information in at risk communities in Central America - Erick Toledo, The Chlorine Bank

LUCAS: A miniaturized microscope that attaches to a cell phone and allows for the detection of parasites and bacteria in blood and water in remote locations - Aydogan Ozcan, Professor of Electrical Engineering at UCLA and the California Nanosystems Institute

During the two-day forum, the innovators will discuss their proposed solutions to health issues with LAUNCH Council members who represent the business, international development, policy, engineering, science, communications and sustainability sectors. The sessions are designed to identify challenges and discuss future opportunities for the entrepreneurs' innovations.

Profiles of the innovators and their innovations can be found at www.launch.org . Real-time Forum information will also be available on the website, while video of the innovators’ presentations will be available soon after the forum. Interested members of the public will be able to watch portions of the Forum live online—please check www.launch.org or www.usaid.gov/scitech for the live stream URL.